The Book Thief Essay
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Ethics, Person and Society
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
A01330075
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The Holocaust have been analyzed over and over again by many scholars, because of the cruelty and lack of empathy that several people showed towards the
Jewish people during this time. Because of this, many works, both fictional and nonfictional, have been created on the subject. The Book Thief is a novel that shows the dilemma that some Germans went through during World War II: to hide a Jew and risk your life and your family’s, or to turn him in and obey the authorities1. However, such predicament should not exist, people must have the priority of defending a human life, especially if the social moral code does not provide the same rights to everyone, including the integrity and protection of all its individuals.
The novel I picked to scrutinize is The Book Thief. This book is narrated by Death and tells the story of Liesel Meminger. She is a nine year old German girl who was given up by her mother to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann in Molching in 1939, before
World War II. Hans previously made a promise with a man who saved his life. That man is a Jew named Max Vandenberg and Hans agrees to hide him in his basement due to the persecution. Hans publicly gave bread to an old man who was Jew, and because he did it, Hans was sent into the military. When this was happening, the police made an investigation to Hans; after this, they found out about Max. Because of this, Max had to leave to a concentration. Finally, Liesel and Max survived the war and Hans and his family died because of a bomb on the street.
The situation described previously will be analyzed, firstly quoting Kant. Kant supports the statement of disobeying the rules when they affect people, as shown in his categorical imperative. The first maxim states that “people should choose their “codes of
1
The web page www.yadvashem.org lists the nations that helped hiding Jewish people during the
Ethics, Person and Society
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
A01330075
2
The Holocaust have been analyzed over and over again by many scholars, because of the cruelty and lack of empathy that several people showed towards the
Jewish people during this time. Because of this, many works, both fictional and nonfictional, have been created on the subject. The Book Thief is a novel that shows the dilemma that some Germans went through during World War II: to hide a Jew and risk your life and your family’s, or to turn him in and obey the authorities1. However, such predicament should not exist, people must have the priority of defending a human life, especially if the social moral code does not provide the same rights to everyone, including the integrity and protection of all its individuals.
The novel I picked to scrutinize is The Book Thief. This book is narrated by Death and tells the story of Liesel Meminger. She is a nine year old German girl who was given up by her mother to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann in Molching in 1939, before
World War II. Hans previously made a promise with a man who saved his life. That man is a Jew named Max Vandenberg and Hans agrees to hide him in his basement due to the persecution. Hans publicly gave bread to an old man who was Jew, and because he did it, Hans was sent into the military. When this was happening, the police made an investigation to Hans; after this, they found out about Max. Because of this, Max had to leave to a concentration. Finally, Liesel and Max survived the war and Hans and his family died because of a bomb on the street.
The situation described previously will be analyzed, firstly quoting Kant. Kant supports the statement of disobeying the rules when they affect people, as shown in his categorical imperative. The first maxim states that “people should choose their “codes of
1
The web page www.yadvashem.org lists the nations that helped hiding Jewish people during the
References: Markus Zusak (2007) Shmoop Editorial Team (2008) Shmoop University, Inc. Retrieved on September 14th, 2013 from www.shmoop.com. Hariman, Robert (2003) James Bentley(1984) Victoria Barnett (1992) Wolfgang Gerlach (2000) Jackson, J. (1965). Structural characteristics of norms: Current studies in social psychology Mitcham, Carl (2005)